Running time: 12 Minutes

George Black, editor at large for Food and Environment Reporting Network (FERN), talks to Erin Fairbanks about his background as a journalist, the benefits of longform journalism, and the downside of social media in disseminating quality reporting.

We kick off the new year with Dayle Hayes, the activist blogger behind "School Meals That Rock," a multi-platform social media campaign that draws attention to news of healthy, delicious, sustainable progress in K-12 food service. Last year there was plenty of that kind of news. And there's lots more to celebrate--along with lots of media negativity to deflect--as we move towards Child Nutrition Reauthorization 2015. Want to join the movement? It's easy. All you need is a smart phone, a Facebook account, and a board on Dayle's Pinterest page. This program was brought to you by Whole Foods Market.

"Schools themselves are kind of late getting on Facebook and social media and recognizing promotional opportunities. Many nutritional directors don't have the self confidence to get on social media and toot their own horn. Many of the bashing going on around school food makes them more hesitant to take those steps." [05:00]

This week on Eat Your Words, host Cathy Erway is discussing women in food media with two members of the Heritage Radio Network family, Leiti Hsu, host of WORD OF MOUTH and Mary Izett, co-host of Fuhmentaboudit!. The group chats about the lack of women in the food industry and the idea of the glass ceiling for women in the industry. Leiti shares her thoughts on the matter in the context of booking guests for her show, while Mary relates with her experiences in the beer world. After the break, Cathy, Leiti, and Mary comment on their pet peeves in the food industry, such as sexist beer labels, the Skinny Girl brand of products, and celebrity women coming out with cookbooks though they have no real connection with the food. Tune in to see what these ladies are looking forward to in the future and how they see the industry changing for the better. This program was brought to you by Edwards VA Ham.

Photo by idrunkthat.com

"I would like women to feel more welcomed in the home-brewing and beer community, period."

--Mary Izett on Eat Your Words

"I am excited to see more women apologize less and seeing women cut the word 'trying' from their vocabulary."